


How Long Has It Been

by Frauggie



Category: Free!
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, mook au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 20:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6255328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frauggie/pseuds/Frauggie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You- I mean how- ” Haruka merely put up a finger to stop him, since the words cut like ice through his heart and he couldn’t bear to hear anymore.</p>
<p>“Rin…” Haru started, hoping to explain it all, but perhaps he didn’t really need to. “Rin - how long has it been?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Long Has It Been

“Rin.”

It was a simple name, and yet Haruka found his voice thick with a near crippling inability to speak. His mouth was dry, and he’d just downed a glass of water in preparation for this moment. 

The man himself finally turned to meet his eyes, and Haruka fought the wave of emotions that washed over him, his efforts in remaining as nonchalant as possible. Relief, hope, pain, nervousness, want, regret- no, not regret. Never regret. That was the one thing that wasn’t possible, not when it came to those he cared about.

“Haru!” The way Rin’s expression lit up in surprise stirred something in Haruka’s chest, ebbing its way into the deepest part of him. He dared not think about it in fear of what it was, for every time Rin flashed that smile the tug was there. Haruka remembered the day the hook lodged in his heart. It was the day Rin first showed him a sight he couldn’t have seen on his own.

“You- I mean how- ” Haruka merely put up a finger to stop him, since the words cut like ice through his heart and he couldn’t bear to hear anymore. He couldn’t help his eyes watering a bit at the frown on Rin’s face, and it started falling even more as soon as Haruka refused to let him speak. Rin didn’t know. He couldn’t have known. Haruka hadn’t even known at the time, but he was here now. 

“Haru?” The voice he knew way too well cracked a little, and suddenly Rin knocked over the chair he was sitting in to reach a hand out toward him and lean in close. “Are you really-?”

He swallowed and nodded his head, wondering why Rin’s face was starting to blur. But there was something he had to do first. It felt like a fish had lodged its way into Haruka’s throat and refused to let him talk.

Rin had sensed this, but then shoved his hands in his pockets and turned. Haruka knew he couldn’t get so lucky. No, he was here to say what he needed to, so why couldn’t he bring himself to say it now? All this time and Haruka finally found him. He could finally say it, so why was it he couldn’t get the words out?

He was running out of time.

Rin set his jaw and started away from the outdoor tables of the small cafe and into the street, then down the nearby alley in search of somewhere secluded. Somewhere he wouldn’t be seen talking to himself.

Haruka noticed only the fact it was in the opposite direction of where the ocean waves came crashing down onto the rocky shoreline nearby. He was too concentrated on the figure ahead of him, and with a pause Rin launched into a tone Haruka should not have been surprised to hear.

“Haru, how- how is this possible?” Of course he’d ask the one question Haruka couldn’t give an answer to. Not until he knew Rin’s first.

With a small shake of his head, Haruka took a deep breath and placed his hand on the wrist that still held his own and answered in his own way.

“I’m here.” 

When Rin scoffed and broke eye contact with the response, Haruka knew he hadn’t understood. For some strange reason Rin never understood when Haruka would speak, as if they were speaking different languages though they used the same words. 

“No, you’re not. You can’t be here, Haru.” As the man stepped back he ran a hand through his mouth, a forced laugh escaping between his words and a hitch in his breath that told Haruka everything was not all right.

“Rin-“

“No! Stop- I know what you are- you’re a figment of my imagination! You’re here to torment me again!”

Haruka’s eyes widened, not understanding what Rin was talking about. Figment of his imagination? Again? This was the first time he’d seen Rin since that day, and there was no way Rin could have seen him since. It just wasn’t possible.

“Whatever you are, just stop. Leave me alone, I don’t need you to remind me of what I can’t have!” This time Rin’s other fist tightened, his knuckles going white with the strain and a frown forming on his face, twisting it in a way Haruka never would have wished on him. It didn’t suit him at all.

“Rin, I-“ 

“SHUT UP!” He screamed, finally the hand playing with the nape of his neck flying out toward Haruka in a full-fledged punch, and Haruka had little time to react. He managed to catch Rin’s forearm, but the force with which Rin used to punch knocked them both back, the force of the ground below him knocking the breath out of Haruka. 

The result seemed to surprise Rin as well, for as he fell to his knees on top of the apparition, he seemed to realize this Haruka was different. This Haruka was real - solid, and most of all, here.

“Haru- the fire…“ he gasped, tears finally forming as he came to realize the truth.

“Rin…” Haru started, hoping to explain it all, but perhaps he didn’t really need to. “Rin - how long has it been?” 

“263 days,” came the answer with no hesitation at all, and Haruka found that light of hope once more. Maybe, just maybe, would things be alright. No, they’d be more than that. He was here - he was finally back, and he had missed Haruka.

“Rin, I’m back.” As Rin collapsed on him, Haruka felt the hug and knew he wasn’t going to let go for a while, not until he could convince the other man he was real. That the fire at the cafe hadn’t killed him like everyone had suspected. Yes, he’d saved Makoto, but maybe the wear on Rin was even worse. “Sorry.”

“You idiot!” The muffled voice from his shoulder sniffled hard, and Haruka couldn’t suppress the small urge to rub his back, soothing him into talking more. “That day- that day they said you died! Makoto was able to save everyone but you… that you had saved him instead.” 

Haruka wondered just how much of the truth Makoto had told Rin, but he soon realized he didn’t want to keep any more secrets. 

“Rin, I don’t regret it.” When he could see shark teeth again right in front of him and angry red eyes rimmed with even more red, his own softened and he finally smiled, releasing the last of the pain of that day. 

“I only regret that it took so long to come back.” With that, Haruka kissed him, and suddenly it was all going to be okay. 

“Tell me again… how long has it been?”

“3 all too long seconds.”

With that, Haruka kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed writing this prompt - and hope I get more! I have another in my inbox but that one's going to end up comedy. My tumblr is Frauggie as well so feel free to say hi!


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